US 2014/0278902 A1 · Return Processing Systems And Methods For A Price Comparison System

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for evaluating a transaction concluded at a POS (point of sale) device. Prices for competitive retail stores within a geographic region of the POS may be evaluated after concluding a transaction. Price differences between items and corresponding prices in the third party data are identified. Where the purchase price exceeds the corresponding third-party price, a credit is assigned to the customer, such as in the form of a gift card or code that may be redeemed in a subsequent transaction. Credits may also be assigned to a debit card associated with a user, either with or without applying some multiplier. A return transaction record and updated record may be generated in response to the assigning of credits, the updated record listing as a purchase price the original price for each item less a credit assigned for that item.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system comprising one or more processors and one or more memory devices operably coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more memory devices storing executable and operational code effective to cause the one or more memory devices to:

for a first transaction record of a user, determine one or more price differences between prices paid for items of the first transaction and third party prices for the items;
credit an account associated with the user with an amount corresponding to the one or more price differences;
generate a return record for at least a portion of the items of the first transaction for which the one or more price differences were determined;
and
generate a second transaction record listing one or more updated prices for the at least the portion of the items, the updated prices being the prices paid for the at least the portion of the items reduced by the one or more price differences.

2 more elements

A computer program product, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

receiving a record of a first transaction concluded on a point of sale (POS), the record including a user identifier, one or more item identifiers, and a price paid for each item identifier of the one or more item identifiers;
subsequent to the first transaction, identifying for each item identifier of at least a portion of the one or more item identifiers, a third party record, the third party record corresponding to the each item identifier and having a third party price;
subsequent to the first transaction, identifying one or more discounted identifiers of the one or more item identifiers, the third party price of the third party record corresponding to the discounted identifiers being less than the price paid for the one or more discounted identifiers by one or more price differences;
crediting the account associated with the user identifier with the amount corresponding to the one or more price differences;
generate a return record for the one or more item identifiers;
and
generate a second transaction record listing one or more updated prices for the one or more item identifiers, the one or more updated prices being the prices paid for the one or more item identifiers reduced by the one or more price differences;
and
applying an amount of credit in the account associated with the user identifier toward a purchase price of a second transaction subsequent to the first transaction.

6 more elements

A method comprising performing, by a computer system, the steps of:

receiving a record of a first transaction concluded on a point of sale (POS), the record including a user identifier, one or more item identifiers, and a price paid for each item identifier of the one or more item identifiers;
subsequent to the first transaction, identifying for each item identifier of at least a portion of the one or more item identifiers, a third party record, the third party record corresponding to the each item identifier and having a third party price;
subsequent to the first transaction, identifying one or more discounted identifiers of the one or more item identifiers, the third party price of the third party record corresponding to the discounted identifiers being less than the price paid for the one or more discounted identifiers by one or more price differences;
crediting the account associated with the user identifier with the amount corresponding to the one or more price differences;
generate a return record for the one or more item identifiers;
and
generate a second transaction record listing one or more updated prices for the one or more item identifiers, the one or more updated prices being the prices paid for the one or more item identifiers reduced by the one or more price differences;
and
applying an amount of credit in the account associated with the user identifier toward a purchase price of a second transaction subsequent to the first transaction.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Return Processing Systems And Methods For A Price Comparison System

Life of this patent

Return Processing Systems And Methods For A Price Comparison System

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20